Richard James Cross (November 3, 1845 – March 30, 1917) was an English born railroad official and banker who was a prominent member of New York society during the Gilded Age.
[9] Cross, who was known as "the wittiest man in N.Y." was a member of the Century Association and helped organize the Racquet and Tennis Club in 1890.
[16] Together, Matilda and Richard were the parents of six children, all born at Hillside (the stone villa of their grandfather in South Orange, New Jersey),[10] namely:[17] His wife Matilda died in 1883, just months after the birth of their youngest child Eliot, and the entire Cross family moved into 6 Washington Square in New York, the home of his late wife's family.
Matilda's sister Emily, who was called Demi, cared for the children, and two years later on May 16, 1885, Richard married another Redmond sister,[4] Annie Redmond (1852–1929),[5] The Crosses also maintained a massive stone Tudor summer home in Newfoundland in northern New Jersey,[4] known as "Cross Castle",[6][b] and built in 1907.
[30] The estate, built at an estimated cost of $1,500,000, consisted of "365 acres of wooded glens, fields, and farm lands, along with a 77-acre pristine water body known as Hank’s Pond.